Termyn8or
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Joined: 11/12/2005
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Disclaimer : I'm sure I could pay to have this done. That is not the point. There are some things I just want to do.
This is just a desoldering tip, but that is neither here nor there. They're also only $16, but that is also not the point. I want to make them so that I can make them the way I want them. This is not something that will pay the bills, but I don't see how it should cost all that much doing it myself. I need to apply nickel plating, to copper I think.
Because of copper's thermal mass and conductivity it is a suitable material for the job. I'm not sure what they use for the store boughten ones, but copper or a copper alloy would be my guess. Might have some berilium in it but it doesn't matter much because I know for a fact that copper will do the job and I would just as soon stay away from berilium. So copper it is.
However copper has been found to corrode and flake away when exposed to the flux or whatever at temperatures around 500 - 700 F. Thing is, it is going to happen. The nickel plating retards this process.
I'm somewhat familiar with the electroplating process, and figure these things are so small it would probably cost more to ship the package to a plater than the parts. I have blueprinted the original part and it is 0.745" but has lost about 0.094" after the end was choted and ground down. Even if (when) I make it longer for my modification(s) it is still less than an inch long. At it's widest it's only 0.387" in diameter. Shit, if I mailed one to a plater the post office would probably think it's a component for some sort of weapon LOL.
So what is made out of nickel ? I am not stupid enough to think that a five cent piece has much in it, like a silver dollar. Pennies actually don't have all that much copper in them either. Or should I go find some buffalo nickels ? I mean I can find or make the right solution for this, but then where is a good place to get the nickel ? What else is nickel used in ?
But then it occurs to me right now, No matter what five cent pieces are made of, they don't corrode easily. Maybe it doesn't matter, that particular material might be just fine for the purpose. The only doubt about that is the fact that we rarely apply heat to those five cent pieces. I've considered chromium plating, but for some reason it doesn't work for a soldering tip because it won't take tinning. However that might not be a consideration here as this is not a soldering tool, it is a desoldering tool. Actually all is has to do is apply the heat to melt the solder and then the vacuum pump is activated, clearing solder from the hole, freeing the component.
I have succesfully used hot air on SMD components, and it works just dandy, on a board you have to get a part from. But on the workpiece, it blows all the other smaller SMDs all over the place wrecking the board. There is a tool for that as well, but then that means $$$. That is a separate project.
So the part is only $16, but the machine it fits is about $400 or so for a low to mid level product. It's not just the $16, it's the fact that I can modify the tip to make it more useful in quite a few ways. I don't have to sell them, I want to use them. Well, I could sell a few maybe, that wouldn't hurt. However there are many more pricey machines out there for the same purpose, and once I blueprint the original part it is just a matter of running one up on the lathe. (I know that rolls off seemingly easy, but it is not difficult to use a lathe, IMO at least). The thing here is that all such parts for any brand or model would have to be nickel plated, or plated with something similar.
If I hit and have a national market it would be no problem to just ship a couple hundred at a time to a plater, but that is not the case and I am not counting chickens when I don't even really expect them to hatch. I just want to do this.
I was about to attach my crude drawing of the part, but it wouldn't work. HA ! I used the restore disk a while back and never reinstalled the scanner drivers. But that doesn't really matter, they are less than an inch long and less than ½ an inch in diameter. How much nickel could it take ? Actually that is another point, how much nickel do I want on there ? Plus now that I think of it I wil have to adjust the dimensions to accomodate the plating.
That shouldn't be a big problem.
Does anyone understand why I just WANT to do this rather than paying less than a case of beer ? I want that machine in the basement to work, that's it's purpose. I want to know how to do this. The olman (who bought the lathe in his hobbyist years) was really into it. As much as a malcontent he was, and incorrigible, he was very professional in his job. You want to build a racecar ? I can let you in on a little secret that has to do with plating.
There was no way in hell to get enough oil pressure to the #1 bearing. This engine would spin a bearing at 9,600 RPM sharp. (for a V8 in the 1960s that is an accomplishment) Every time. Well they tried not to blow it but it happened and every time is needed a new crank. The olman had it turned down a thousandth or two on the journals and had it hard chromed back up to size. Now when it blew, it was a matter of one bearing insert set, and standard size at that. Didn't even have to drain the oil, literally. Drop the pan, undo the bearing cap and in about fifteen minutes they were back on the road, errr track. Old guys like that wouldn't endanger public safety by drag racing on the street would they ? Would they :-)
T
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Hillbilly engineering - plating - 
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